The country’s first women-oriented bank, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi as slated earlier on November 19, the birth anniversary of India's first and only woman PM the late Indira Gandhi. Simultaneously, seven branches — including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Bangalore — will be operational, sources in the bank told FE.

The finance minister P Chidambaram and the minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena will also attend the launch function.